120
How can i teach myself to contribute to these projects? (self.selfhosted)
submitted 4 days ago by philanthropicoctopus to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
28 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I use open source self hosted software everyday. I love the community and I would love to be able to contribute to some of these projects.

As far as code goes, I basically no nothing about how it works. I see the development section of the repos I use and again, I've go no idea how it works.

How can I teach myself how to offer small improvements to the projects I use?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] solrize@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 days ago

Which projects?

Can you look at the source code in the repos and make any sense of it?

Are there open issues connected to the repo, that you think you could make some headway with?

If you have 0 experience writing code, I think contributing to an existing project isn't a good way to start. Better to text a textbook and work through some exercises, and do a few small projects of your own, before trying to join an existing team where as a total newbie, you'll be a burden. Note that "small project of your own" can involve forking something that exists and making your own changes or additions. That doesn't require much attention from other people.

Then, contribute once you feel you are ready to contribute.

this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2026
120 points (96.9% liked)

Selfhosted

61475 readers
426 users here now

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

Rules:

Detailed Rules Post

  1. Be civil.

  2. No spam.

  3. Posts are to be related to self-hosting.

  4. Don't duplicate the full text of your blog or readme if you're providing a link.

  5. Submission headline should match the article title.

  6. No trolling.

  7. Promotion posts require active participation, with an account that is at least 30 days old. F/LOSS without a paywall has exceptions, with requirements. See the rules link for details. Tags [CBH] or [AIP] are required, see the links in Rule 8 for details.

  8. AI-related discussions and AI-involved promotional posts have additional requirements for tagging, as noted in Rule 7 and the AI & Promotional Post Expanded Rules post, and find example disclosures here.

Resources:

Any issues on the community? Report it using the report flag.

Questions? DM the mods!

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
ruud@lemmy.world
Loki@lemmy.world
CannaVet@lemmy.world
devve@lemmy.world
ayyy@sh.itjust.works
curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
curbstickle_lw@lemmy.world